Quench evolution and hot spot temperature in the ATLAS B0 model coil

The 9-m long superconducting model coil B0 was built to verify design parameters and exercise the construction of the barrel toroid magnet of ATLAS detector. The model coil has been successfully tested at CERN. An intensive test program to study quench propagation through the coil windings as well as the temperature distribution has been carried out. The coil is well equipped with pickup coils, voltage taps, superconducting quench detectors and temperature sensors. The current is applied up to 24 kA and about forty quenches have been induced by firing internal heaters. Characteristic numbers at full current of 24 kA are a normal zone propagation of 15 m/s in the conductor leading to a turn-to-turn propagation of 0.1 m/s, the entire coil in normal state within 5.5 s and a safe peak temperature in the windings of 85 K. The paper summarizes the quench performance of the B0 coil. Based on this experience the full-size coils are now under construction and first test results are awaited by early 2004.